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The only way to make the hurt in my heart stop is to make my heart stop.

Her mind filled with relief. It would finally be over.

No one will even noticebecause no one ever notices me.

She picked up her things and walked into the busy hallway, an invisible face in the sea of many. Then someone bumped into her, and all her things went flying. She watched as people stepped on her books and kept walking.

That's just like my life.

As she was picking up her things, something amazing happened. She looked up and noticed a blonde girl on the other side of the hallway. The girl looked into her eyes and smiled.

Is she looking at me? Is there really one person caring about me?

She thought about that smile late into the evening, and decided to hang on for one more day. She wanted to make sure she hadn't imagined it. After 4th period math the next day, she nervously walked into the hallway and searched the faces. Soon their eyes met, and the blonde girl smiled again.

One day became two.

The girl knew if she could just hold on until 4th period math, she could make it. There was hope.

Sometimes hope can be found in the smallest things. It comes around the corner at just the right time and smiles at you, if you're looking.

One of the first things I did when cleaning the house for company was hide the medicine that had been sitting on the bathroom counter. I was horrified by the thought of someone seeing it. How silly is that? It's just medicine.

Only it didn't feel silly.

Many people taking medicine struggle with the embarrassment of having to take it.

"The first time my parents took me to see a physiologist, she asked me how I felt about taken medications. I was horrified by the idea, horrified by the idea that the medication might help me do something I couldn't do on my own - get better. I felt that if I took medication, I was weak. I didn't judge others that took medications, but for some reason, I felt that if I myself took them, it meant I was weak." Emma

Why do we worry about people seeing us as weak when it's not true? Medicine has nothing to do with building up our character.

When we run, eat healthy, or work out, people applaud our efforts in taking care of our health. It should be the same with taking medicine. Taking meds is just another way of taking care of our bodies and staying healthy.

It's time to fight the stigma.

I'm going right now to the bathroom and place the bottle back on the counter where I can see it. If someone asks about it, I'll shrug and tell them it's something I need to stay healthy.

"I used to think the words spoken about us describe who we are, but now I know they shape who we are." Bob Goff

What we believe about ourselves has a powerful impact on who we become.

I've seen it happen. People with limited abilities find themselves doing amazing things because someone they trusted told them they could.

Words are like that.

They have a power of their own.A power that can change everything. A power that opens doors.Which doors we open depends upon which words we choose to believe...the negative ones or the positive.

Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic runner, chose to listen to the positive and her life was changed forever. When she was four years old, she had a disease called polio, which causes people to be crippled and unable to walk. This is how she describes that time in her life:

I've just heard about it. It's a game where you start with something little and then head out into the neighborhood to see what you can trade it for. The goal is to come back with something bigger and better than what you started with. I've heard of one boy who started with a dime and ended up driving home with an old truck.

It made me start thinking. If it works with things, will it work with lives?

What would happen if we decided to trade things in our lives for something bigger?

Trade a moment of embarrassment for a chance of making a friend. Trade a sense of pride for a possibility of reconciliation. Trade being right for the opportunity of keeping peace.

Wouldn't the trade be worth the risk, if we could find a bigger, more satisfying life?

There's only one way to find out. Want to join me in a game of Bigger and Better?

It's easy to put people into boxes, especially when we don't know their whole story.

Take this girl I know. She cut school, hung out with a wild crowd, and ended up having a baby right out of high school. Everyone labeled her as a wild child with no future.Then one night I heard her story.

She told me what life was like for her as a young girl; how, when she was still in elementary school, her father started abusing her. She talked about how scared she was in her room at night, so she would sneak out of the house and hang out with the only kids that were up that time of the evening. She mentioned how happy she had been when she met a kind, young man who wanted to marry her. She hadn't thought anyone would want her after what she'd been through, and she was so excited to be able to move out of her house and away from her father. She believed they would make a life together, but it hadn't worked out the way she had wished. At the end of her story she smiled and told me about her daughter, the college classes she's taking, and her dreams for the future.

With one story, she went from a "wild child" to an "incredible 'survivor."

Stories are game changers. They break down the walls that separate us and let us see each other for who we really are. They get rid of the stereotypes.

We should all be brave enough to open up and tell our stories. Even more importantly, we should seek each other's stories.​People are never as black and white as they seem.